Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-27
RARE AND BEAUTIFUL.
CHAT WITH A RECENTLY RETURNED
ORCHID COLLECTOR.
Gathering the Weird and Eccentric
Developments Of the Floral Kingdom.
Life Among ssvage~-Beginningo Of .
Craze for Orchids.

America IN quest OF orchids, bringing
with him ship load Of the coveted buds,
tropical ferns and the Towering onion for
| the New York and Brooklyn markets, as
| well as for those of London, Paris and
Berlin. Fifty Thousand orchids Of this i'm
portstion are in Mr. Bergman's care.
| Some half dozen men were busily opening
the crates in which the plants were boxed,
/ while others had already found place i'll
the greenhouses among those already cul-
| tivated by the florist. Some tropical birds
brought by the merchant in orchids
seemed to have found titting home in
such surroundings. As Mr.. Man talked
of his methods of trade | cannot do better
in this direction than 10 repeat some por
tions Of it In answer TO the queries pro-
pounded by his curious visitors on this oc-
casion, and rs nearly as possible in hi,
own language.
You see, said he, 81 have been visit
ing South America for some ten or twelve
years on purpose to obtain orchids from
the forests of Brazil, the United States Of
Colombia and elsewhere. Ihave my own
servants, guides, etc, who are ready to
meet NE on arrival. We travel 1000
miles into the interior, perhaps, before be
ginning operations. OF course take an
interpreter with me, as in all my journeys
have not leafned the low mixture VI
languages spoken by the natives"
FOES TO BE FEARED.
Are you not timid amid such a rude
people,
''Oh, no; my guides and myself are well
armed The foes We have most TO fear
are the reptiles and wild animals.
And how do YOU defend yourself
against them
We travel by boat and on muleback
when We can, and sometimes through
almost impenetrable forests, but at night
We have one rule for shelter and protec-
ton. Three fires are made ssd our hut
placed in the triangular space between
them. There are many tigers in the Bra
lillian forests, and as for snakes-well, |
could spend hours telling you of them.
brought home the skin of one thirty feet
long Here on my thumb is the scar of q
reptile"-
Don't tell us more Of the snakes"
said Mr.. Mans audience.
''No. no, it is of the or, hids you want
to know. Well. orchids are parasites
They grow on rocks and trees and are fed
by the moisture in the atmosphere al
though there are orchids that grow in the
earth. They are found in all countries
and the rarest and most beautiful are the
parasites. The natives of South America
are very fond of them, cultivate them
around their dwellings and call them
fieur de santus, the flower of health
sometimes gorgeous flower Is seen on
the top O! a forest tree, which is only OBJ
tainable by cutting down the tree: some
times they are found near the SUBMITS of
mountains 10000 or 12,O00 feet high as
some species grow where 1t is cold and
near the SHOWS, and others where the heat
is constant and almost oyerpowering
How do You transport these gather
ings OF orchidss'
Al times the natives carry them, but
usually ON muleback TO some sea port,
and no freight is more costly, as the
wooden crates in which they are packed
must lie 50 arranged rs to give the plants
air."
BEGINNING OF CRAZE
Are many orchids sold in this conn
try?" asked the writer.
''Oh, yes, there is the beginning of n
craze for them in the United States, but
as yet not at all in comparison To that
which exists in England, France and Ger
many. 1t is becoming the fashionable
flower here AS well as there for decora
tions, for dinner parties, for brides bou
Quets, etc"
Are these flowers very evpens:vrT'
Decidedly A small bouquet of them
may represent SIS. In England the
wealthy people will give almost any price
for new orchid
.'How long have they been known
there:''
"Abont 100 years, perhaps little more;
a missionaryto To India sent some specimens
home and sea capt aims brought them from
South America, the South Sea Islands,
Mexico. Porto Rico and elsewhere. The
English people liked them and gradually
they have grown into great favor till the
mania for them resembles the craze that
once existed i'll Europe for the black tulip.
Agents are sent everywhere that orchids
are indigenous for new varieties. l have
myself discovered seventeen new varie-
ties. Baron SHREDDER, who resides near
London, has the finest collection in the
world; the Duke of Marlborough has
many rare varieties and SO has Baron
Rothschild. Ii was in Boston that or
chids first found favor in this country.
Mr. Jay Gould has a splendid collection
in his greenhouses near Tarrytown on the
Hudson; Mr.. Corning, of Albany, has the
most extensive collection this side of the
ocean. and Mr.. Cornelius Vanderbilt is
beginning TO purchase them for his place
in Newport. t.'-Brooklyn Eagle.
Mark Twain's Scholarly Aftainments.
People who know Samuel L. Clemens
only as Mark Twain the humorist, have
no idea Of the scholarly attachments Of
the man. Reading his books Of travel, one
gets ,nly the impression of a newspaper
man. A brilliant and witty one, ii is
true. but with the shallow fiippancy, the
irreyerence that is the characteristic of
many journalists who hold few things
sacred and would sacrifice most things TO
point funny paragraph.
Dora Wheeler, who has painted the por
traits Of most of the literary men and
women Of to-day, painted Twain's not
long ago, and said OF him that she had
never had among all her literary sitters
one more thoughtful, learned and schol-
arly. He would pass like a flash from
the maddest and most irreverent waggery
TO a grave discussion of abstruse thought,
and his fav0rite poet was-mirabile dictu
Robert Browning. II one can picture
anything apparently more at the antipo-
des OF thought than Twain's trenchant,
obvious, aggressive humor and the subtle,
introspective. involved processes Of
RrowuinU's mind they NAV be able to